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no sleep at all
Sun, 08/17/2014 - 13:30Topic: New to Epilepsy.com
i wish someone could understand . at 5 years old - i was dagnosed with epilepsy --- due to brain damage when i was born. Before the age of 12 i used to sleep deep. the medication i had till the age of 26 was phenobarbital,mysoline and dilantin. thank to my former neurologist i lost my teeth at 36. But after the age of 12 i didn't sleep - no dreams, i could and still can relax but i can hear every sound around me - there are times i can't keep my eyes open but i still don't sleep. my meds changed to Topomax, clobazam and tegretoltill i turned 41. My seizures were always Grand Mal (Clonic-Tonic) I am on Lamotrigine now and my right temporal lobe was removed but there is still some damage behind my head. The question i have is dilantin one of the facts that i can't sleep? is it brain damage that cause epilepsy the cause or is it something else? i am 44 years old and still can't sleep- but i can relax.
The damage is probably the
Submitted by just_joe on Sun, 2014-08-17 - 19:39
The damage is probably the reason you have epilepsy.As for not sleeping...... I took dilantin for about 30 years give ot take a few. It worked good at controlling my seizures. I got toxic on it and had to stop using it. They didn't wean me off because I was toxic. The main problem with dilantin os it makes your gums fluctiuate which isn't always good. When I was completely off dilantin my gums receeded all the way back. The roots to my teeth coul;d be seen and my teeth were falling out. So I do know dilantin has issues but it might not be for everyone. As for sleeping... The phenobarbitol put you into a deep sleep. I took it for years too and yes I slept deeply. If you ever checked yo uwould find out that phenobarb was also used for sleeping pills. You know like the pills taken by actors who died in their sleep.When I moved from Ca to Tx I had to get a new neurologist and the first question he asked me was How do you get up in the mornings? . He said I was taking enough phenobarb to put the average man to sleep for 24 hours. Now add the dilantin and tegratol and that was one whicked cocktail.. If you aren't taking the dilantin and phenobarb then you are not taking the downers you used to take. The newer medications do cause drozyness but nothing like your others. What helps me sleep is acetiphemomine PM which has a sleeping agent in it as well as something that stops amy pain.